Postdoctoral Research Associate, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Advisor: Leila Hamdan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Policy Department
Supported field and laboratory research on a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-funded project to determine if exposure to oil and/or dispersant affects the population structure, metabolic activity, and biodiversity of microbial communities colonizing metal- and wooden-hulled shipwrecks and deep-sea corals in the northern Gulf of Mexico

2011 – 2012

NOAA Sea Grant Legislative Fellow, Office of Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23), U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
Advised the Congresswoman on ocean, coastal, and environmental policy issues and funding priorities; drafted national legislation; wrote speeches, official statements, and letters; served as a liaison between the Congresswoman and constituents; supported her role as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Co-Chair of the National Marine Sanctuary Caucus; analyzed, amended, and directed the reintroduction of the National Sustainable Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2011 and the Oceans and Human Health Act of 2011

2011

United States Delegate, 63rd International Whaling Commission (IWC) Annual Meeting, Jersey, UK
Represented the United States at the IWC as part of the U.S. Delegation; assisted the U.S. Commissioner and team members by researching and writing official statements to address outstanding whaling issues

2010 – 2011

Education and Outreach Coordinator, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
Supervisor: Malia Rivera, Ph.D., Education Program Leader, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology
Taught a Windward Community College course on HIMB research in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; designed and coordinated outreach activities for public and community events at schools and Waikiki aquarium

2004 – 2010

Graduate Research Assistant, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
Co-advisors: Charles Birkeland, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Michael Rappé, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology
Developed and optimized protocols for using high-throughput molecular techniques and multivariate statistical analyses to assess bacterial communities associated with healthy and diseased corals; planned and organized extensive field sampling excursions in remote locations and aboard research vessels; responsible for state and federal permit application and reporting

Research Assistant, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA
Supervisor: Hugh Ducklow, Ph.D., Professor of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Constructed laboratory protocol for analysis of total dissolved inorganic carbon in Antarctic seawater; conducted research on phytoplankton and bacterial productivity at the NSF Palmer Long Term Ecosystem Research site along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

Designed and presented a lesson plan to 36 kindergarteners on sources of marine debris and how to prevent trash from entering the ocean; Conducted hands-on activities, including making fish out of plastic water bottles

2013

Heroes Elementary School, Camp Lejeune, NC

Designed and presented a lesson plan to 2nd grade class on sources of marine debris and how to prevent trash from entering the ocean; Conducted hands-on activities, including making fish out of plastic water bottles

Taught a Windward Community College Continuing Education course which introduced students to research being conducted by scientists in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands through hands on laboratory activities

2010

Manteo High School, Manteo, NC

Presented a lecture on food webs at hydrothermal vents and coral reefs to 9th grade honors earth science students

11-day cruise to Bear Seamount located off the New England coast (May 2003); assisted with pelagic and benthic trawls around the seamount; determined species abundances of deep-sea fishes and invertebrates to assess the biodiversity of Bear Seamount

R/V Atlantis, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Research assistant on cruises to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal vents (July-August 2001), the Blake Ridge cold seep (September 2001), and the Eastern Pacific Rise (December-January 2001); maintained sampling equipment, preserved biological samples, assisted in CTD casts; dove in the DSV Alvin at the Logatchev vent field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and at 11ºN on the Eastern Pacific Rise

Point Sur Research Vessel, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory

12-day cruise out of Monterey Bay, CA (July 2000); aided with CTD profiles and transects in upwelling zones along the mid- to southern California coast; responsible for seawater sampling and chl a analysis

Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, Bivalve, NJ

Two-week intensive Aquaculture course (January 2000); hands-on laboratories involving spawning and culture of fish and invertebrate larvae and the incidence and intensity of shellfish diseases in the Delaware Bay

Salerno, J.L. and M. S. Rappé. Developing a high-throughput method to explore the diversity of bacteria associated with corals in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Presented at the Hawai‘i Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 7 January 2010.

Salerno, J.L. and M.S. Rappé. Microbes in the Monument: Using bacterial community assessments to monitor coral health. Presented at the Hawai‘i Conservation Conference, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 28-30 July 2009.

Salerno, J.L. and M. S. Rappé. Assessing the biogeographical distribution of bacterial communities associated with reef water and corals of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and greater Pacific Basin. Presented at the Hawai‘i Conservation Conference, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 29-31 July 2008.

Town Hall organizer: From coral reefs to Capitol Hill: Building bridges between scientists and policy makers for effective coral ecosystem management and conservation. The 13th International Coral Reef Symposium, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 19-24, 2016.

Salerno, J.L. From the ivory tower to the halls of Congress: How scientific information is sourced and used in the legislative process. Oral presentation at the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 19-24, 2016.

Session co-chair: Mesophotic and deep-sea coral ecosystems: A tribute to the pioneering efforts of Dr. John Rooney. The 13th International Coral Reef Symposium, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 19-24, 2016.

Salerno, J.L. and M. S. Rappé. Biogeography of bacterial communities associated with reef water and corals of the Hawaiian Archipelago and Greater Pacific Basin. Poster presentation at the 12th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, Cairns, Australia, August 17-22, 2008.

International Society for Reef Studies, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society for Microbiology, Women’s Aquatic Network, Association for Women in Science, Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, American Geophysical Union

Participated in the 8th Annual Geosciences Congressional Visits Day (GEO-CVD) to speak to members of U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and Congressional Committees about the importance of biogeoscience research, September 29-30, 2015, Washington, D.C.

Judge for undergraduate student research, George Mason University College of Science Undergraduate Research Colloquium, May 1, 2015

Women In Science Luncheon Series (WISLS), George Mason University, Co-organizer, March 2015 – May 2016

Consultant for First Lego League (FLL) team from Greenbriar West Elementary, Fairfax, VA (7 students in 5th and 6th grade designing a robot to clean up oil spills in the ocean), September 2016 – November 2016